Advocates: Paid Sick Days Would Cut ER Visits

By Celeste Katz

More than 1 million city workers presently do not get paid sick time. A measure to fix that [supported by Make the Road NY] has stalled in the Council.

Paid sick days would actually save the city $28 million annually in a reduction in emergency room visits, according to a report issued by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The study suggests many employees without sick days work through their illnesses until they worsen or visit ERs at night after work hours.

“Workers without paid sick days are less likely to get the kind of preventive medical care that keeps people healthier and lowers costs, and more likely to end up in emergency rooms, getting the most costly kind of care,” IWPR’s Barbara Gault said.